There are numerous designs of overhead or retractable door assemblies which are commonly used for garage doors, truck doors, and warehouse doors. Such retractable overhead garage doors are conventionally constructed of a number of vertically arranged horizontal panels which can fold along the horizontal divisions between the panels, thereby enabling the doors to assume a rolled or folded configuration as they pass along a curved path before being retracted into the ceiling of the building in which they are installed. The panels assume a vertically juxtaposed planar configuration when lowered into a bottom position to thereby present a solid face and close the door opening.
Such retractable overhead doors typically are constructed of a number of stacked horizontal panels, with two or more hinge assemblies between each of the adjacent horizontal panels. The hinge assemblies at each side of the door run in parallel tracks which are installed vertically on each side of the door, and curve at the top before becoming horizontal parallel tracks, suspended from the ceiling of the building. Such doors can be manually operated, or can be automatically operated by using infra red or radio operated motors, which pull the panels of the door upwardly along the tracks, when the door is being opened, or push the door downwardly to a closed position, when reversed.
The following three patents disclose alternative types of overhead door assemblies:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 2,827,115 Stroup March 18, 1958 2,869,637 Schacht, Jr. January 20, 1959 4,115,900 Mihalcheon September 26, 1978 ______________________________________
Stroup discloses an upwardly acting door assembly including a plurality of door sections comprising outer and inner panels of sheet metal. The outer panel has inwardly offset upwardly facing angled flanges on its upper and lower edges. The inner panel has outwardly offset downwardly facing angled flanges on its upper and lower edges. The flanges of the panels are in interlocking engagement and coact to provide an outwardly facing rabbet on the lower edges. The rabbets of adjacent sections coact to provide a stepped joint. Two separate reinforcing rails of a length corresponding approximately to the length of the panels and of a thickness corresponding to the spacing of the panels is disposed horizontally between the panels adjacent their upper and lower edges. The rails are of double channels section with reversely facing channels. One rail is inverted with respect to the other to provide outwardly facing channels at the top and bottom of the door section with the webs of the channels lapped against and secured to the interior surfaces of the inner and outer panels. Vertically extending flanges on the edges of the rails are lapped against the interior surface of the adjacent panels of the sections. The rails and panels are fixedly secured together. Coacting hinge members are disposed on the inner sides of adjacent sections and are provided with pintles disposed in the plane of the upper step of the joint. The hinge members are formed of sheet metal and are secured to the ends of the rails disposed between the panels. The hinge members are secured to the sections by fasteners disposed therethrough and through the rails.
Schacht, Jr. discloses in an upwardly acting door assembly including a track comprising an upright section, a horizontal section and a curved intermediate section merging into the upright and horizontal sections. The door comprises a plurality of panels. A first hinge member is mounted on the inner side of the lower edge of the upper panel of a pair of adjacent panels considered from the relative position of the panels when the door is closed. The member has a pair of spaced inwardly projecting flanges, the lower ends of which project beyond the lower edge of the upper panel. A pintle is disposed through the flanges with its axis in the central plane of the joint between the panels. A second hinge member is mounted on the inner side of the lower panel of the pair and is provided with an inwardly offset knuckle engaging the pintle on the first hinge member. The track roller is provided with a spindle journaled in the inwardly projecting flanges of the first hinge member and positioned substantially above the pintle so that the upper edge of the lower panel of the pair is not substantially elevated above the track as the track roller traverses from the curved intermediate track section onto the horizontal section, or vice versa.
Certain retractable door designs have the side rails installed at an angle so that the door panels approach the door frame as the door panels are lowered into position. This design ensures that the door panels are moved against the door frame when the retractable door is in a lowermost closed position. This design, however, requires hinges of different design at various panel elevations on the door in order to accommodate the different distances from the side rails to the door frame. These hinges are typically numbered from #1 to #10 to accommodate most designs of retractable door. A conventional garage door typically uses hinges numbering from #2 to #4, or sometimes #5.
Mihalcheon provides a single hinge which can be modified and locked into position to act as any one of a conventional #1 hinge, through to a conventional #10 hinge. Mihalcheon's hinge design can be adjusted to mimic a hinge having any number of hinged plates. A pair of upstanding bearing support ears extend outwardly from one of the plates. A bearing member is provided comprising a tubular support portion, for receiving the shaft of a roller, and an arm portion. Means are provided for disengageably connecting and locking the end of the arm portion, remote from the support portion, to the support ears. Thus, the arm can be rotated about its connection with the ears, to vary the distance of the support portion relative to the plates. The hinge can then be locked in place to fix the position of the roller relative to the sectional door.
Mihalcheon specifically discloses a hinge and roller support device for a sectional door. The hinge comprises a pair of plates hinged together end to end and adapted to be attached to the door. One of the plates has a pair of spaced bearing support ears upstanding therefrom. Each ear forms a transverse bolt-receiving aperture spaced above the plate. A bearing member comprises a tubular support portion, for receiving the shaft of a roller, and an arm portion of generally right-angled configuration extends from the support portion. The arm portion comprises a tongue portion, extending from the tubular support portion, and a pair of spaced apertured lugs projecting from the side edges of the tongue portion at its end remote from the tubular support portion. The lugs form the right angles with the tongue portion, whereby, when the elements are assembled, the apertures of the lugs are located adjacent to and in alignment with the ear apertures. Threaded bolt means are used for connecting the support ears and the lugs by extension through the adjacent pairs of apertures. Nut means threadable on the bolt means permit disengageable locking of the bearing member to the support ears, whereby the arm portion can be rotated about the bolt means to vary the distance of the tubular support from the plates and then be fixed in place by tightening only the bolt and nut means.
None of these patents disclose a hinge design which permits the door to be pulled away quickly from the door frame as the door is being raised, or moved toward the door frame when the door is lowered.